Spring is a notoriously bad time of year for allergy sufferers; plants kick it into high gear and shed tons of pollen. But for those of us with other environmental allergies like dust mites or pet dander, allergies are a year-round thing! As the weather starts to cool down and we’re approaching the time when we’ll be spending a lot more time indoors, I thought I would share some tips to help you reduce allergens in your home and fight back against your allergies!

7 Ways To Reduce Allergens In The Home

1. Wash your linens often

It’s crazy how quickly dust and dirt can build up in your bed! We’ve all heard the horror stories about how many pounds of dust and dust mites end up in our pillows and mattresses every year, so make sure you’re washing your bed linens often. Wash your sheets and pillowcases once a week with HOT water to get rid of as many allergens as you can.

And don’t forget to wash your pillows and comforter too. You should wash them about once every six weeks; it might sound like a lot, but did you know you can actually wash pillows in your washing machine?! You can wash your comforter the same way (as long as the tag says it’s washable); just pop them in and let the machine do the work, then you can stick them in the dryer with some homemade dryer balls to get them nice and fluffy again.

As an added bonus, vacuum your mattress when you change your sheets to really help cut down on the dust and allergens in your bed.

2. Dust your home

But don’t use a feather duster! Feather dusters just push dust around and lift it back into the air. Instead, grab a soft brush attachment for your vacuum and use that to dust your house. And don’t forget to dust your window blinds and ceiling fan blades too!

3. Keep your floors clean

We have hardwood floors in our house, which is definitely better for allergy sufferers than carpet; dust and allergens can’t “hide” on hardwood floors like they can in carpet fibers. But you still need to vacuum in order to keep your floors clean and allergen-free!

Vacuum every room in your house once a week, and more often for high traffic areas, or if you have pets that shed a lot. Don’t forget to use a soft brush attachment on your vacuum to clean your baseboards and stairways as well.

In addition to regular vacuuming, experts recommend that you have your floors professionally cleaned every 3 to 4 months to help keep your home clean and healthy. We had Stanley Steemer come clean our hardwood floors, and I am so thrilled with how clean they are! I didn’t even know how dirty our floors had been until they were clean, and now I can definitely tell how nice our hardwood floors are.

Stanley Steemer is certified asthma & allergy friendly™ for their carpet cleaning, hardwood floor cleaning, and tile and grout cleaning. On hardwood floors they remove an average of 96% of common household allergens like dust, pollen, and pet dander, which is really great for allergy-sufferers.

I also had the Stanley Steemer guys clean the area rug in our family room. We spend most of our time in the family room, so I figured it would be great to have all of the allergens and dirt in the rug removed as well.

4. Clean your furniture

If you have pets, you’ve probably noticed that pet hair gets ALL OVER your furniture! Even if your pets aren’t allowed on certain pieces of furniture, the airborne hair and pet dander end up on your furniture anyway.

Use a lint roller for a quick pet hair and dander removal, or for a deeper clean, use the upholstery attachment on your vacuum. Yes, I vacuum our furniture! Pet hair and dander tends to “hide” in the upholstery, so vacuuming our furniture regularly is a must to help keep our home clean and allergen-free.

Stanley Steemer can also clean your furniture if you want a really deep clean!

5. Pets

We have two cats and a dog, and I am definitely allergic to them, but there’s no way I’d ever let allergies keep me from having pets! If you have pets, there are a few things you can do to help reduce pet allergens.

Bathe your pets often (even your cats if you can get away with it!) to get rid of loose pet hair and dander. You can also use those pet cleaning cloths instead of a bath if your pets don’t like the water; they’re like baby wipes, but made for pets. And make sure to brush your pets often; the brush will remove loose hair and help keep their coats healthy so that they shed less.

And maybe vacuum an extra time every week if your pets are big shedders. 🙂

6. Keep your air clean

Put a HEPA filter in your central air unit to help reduce airborne allergens. And remember to replace your filters regularly; most manufacturers recommend switching out your filters monthly. If you don’t have central air, you can get a standalone air purifier to help clean the air in your home.

And if your vacuum doesn’t have a HEPA filter, consider upgrading to a newer model that does. With the amount of vacuuming I do to try to keep dust and pet hair to a minimum, I’m really glad that our vacuum has a HEPA filter so that those allergens are trapped in the vacuum and don’t recirculate in the air.

7. Remove your shoes before entering your home

I’ve seen estimates that say up to 80% of the dust in people’s homes is carried in from outdoors on their shoes. Shoes can also bring in viruses, bacteria, pesticides, pollen, and other outdoor allergens, so take your shoes off before you come indoors.

Set up a little bench and a cute boot tray by your front door to make it easy for you and your guests to remove your shoes before you get all the way inside.

Want to share these tips with your friends? Just click any of the share buttons on the left to share with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.!

Disclosure: I received compensation from Stanley Steemer in exchange for my participation in this campaign, and my honest discussion of their services. But we are thrilled with how clean our floors are and all opinions in this post are 100% my own. I would never write a post about something I didn’t think was useful or interesting for you guys, and Practically Functional will only publish sponsored posts for companies or products I love and believe in! 🙂

I believe that anyone can do crafts and DIY projects, regardless of skill or experience. I love sharing simple craft ideas, step by step DIY project tutorials, cleaning hacks, and other tips and tricks all with one goal in mind: giving you the tools you need to “do it yourself”, complete fun projects, and make awesome things!

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